


Thank-You Note

by nebroadwe



Category: Howl Series - Diana Wynne Jones
Genre: Crack, Epistolary, F/M, Thank-you notes are hard work, This goes as well as you'd expect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-26
Updated: 2013-01-26
Packaged: 2017-11-26 22:31:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/655093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nebroadwe/pseuds/nebroadwe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Howl writes and Sophie edits a thank you note.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thank-You Note

**Author's Note:**

> This was, and is, for Lyra Ngalia, who asked for it. Or at least for something like it.

**_N.B. Make fair copy. Do NOT send draft._ **

~~September~~ ~~22nd~~ ~~25th~~ ~~30th~~  
 ~~October 12th~~  
November ~~1st~~ ~~5th~~ ~~8th~~ 9th

My dear Miss Ngalia,

      It is with great ~~pains~~ pleasure that I take pen in hand to thank you for the ~~faun~~ ~~barn~~ ~~loam~~ \--

**What _am_ I thanking her for?**  
 **_The list says a fa-- no, a bo-- oh, a_ basin. _Goodness, Howl, your handwriting!_**  
 **Yours is certainly more legible than mine.**  
 **_Oh, no. I've written my share of the notes already._**  
 **No need to gloat.**

basin.

**Basin?**  
 **_The large china one with the garland of primroses around the rim._**  
 **Oh, the garish thing you use for Morgan's baths.**  
 **_Yes. But you needn't share that opinion with Miss Ngalia._**  
 **Trust me.**

It is quite ~~large~~ ~~nice~~ ~~a wonder -- a marvel cast in porcelain, a jewel of the ceramicist's art~~ lovely. We find it indispensable for bathing Morgan ~~when he consents to be bathed. Those weeks he spent as a kitten following his birth have without doubt affected his character~~ ; it is exactly the right size ~~for a boy no larger than an ocelot~~.

**By the time you've finished editing this note, Sophie, it will contain no information whatsoever.**  
 **Why, then, am I writing it?**  
 **_It's customary to thank people for the gifts they send you._**  
 **It is?**  
 **_YES._**

How you would laugh to see him splashing ~~water all over the floor and giggling at Calcifer's distress~~ in the water, babbling happily the while.

**Oh, God.**

We expect his first word ~~to be "No!"~~ soon.

      Your confidence that Morgan will follow in his father's footsteps as a ~~great~~ wizard is ~~natural~~ flattering, but we must not anticipate matters. Rest assured, however, that when he ~~summons his first demon~~ casts his first spell, you shall hear of it. ~~And if he's anything like his mother, so will all of Ingary.~~

Thanking you again for your thoughtful gift,  
Believe me, Miss Ngalia,  
Your ~~most humble, most devoted,~~ most obedient servant,  
Howell ~~Pendragon~~ Jenkins

  
**One down ... several thousand to go.**   
**_Eleven, you mean -- don't be such a baby. Shall I have a word with your pen so that you can dictate?_**   
**No, no, I'll soldier on.**   
**_Don't forget to make a fair copy to send._**   
**Trust me.**   



End file.
